Regulations Relating to Admission to Master's Degree Programmes at HiOA

This document is a translation of a legally binding document originally written in Norwegian. If a dispute arises as to the interpretation of this document, the Norwegian version takes precedence.

Approved by the Board of Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences 8 December 2011 in accordance with Act of 1 April 2005 no. 15 Relating to Universities and University Colleges, § 3-6 og § 3-7, and the National Regulations of 1 December 2005 no. 1932 Relating to Requirements for a Master’s Degree, § 2.

§ 1. Scope and extent

These regulations apply to admission to Master’s Degree Programmes offered by Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences leading to:

a) a master’s degree comprises120 ECTS credits, cf. the National Regulations Relating to Requirements for a Master’s Degree, § 3

§ 2. Academic requirements for admission

(1) The academic requirement for admission is stipulated in the programme description for the lower academic degree or the course of study on which the master’s degree is based, when this is:

a) a bachelor’s degree

b) a cand.mag. degree

c) other degree or vocational training of at least three years duration

d) education, that in accordance with the Act Relating to Universities and University Colleges, § 3-4, is recognised as equivalent to the above-mentioned degrees or courses of study.

(2) Specified academic requirements for admission within the subject area of the master’s degree programme are stipulated in the programme description. One of the courses of study mentioned in subsection 1 must include:

a) an in-depth study, course or course group comprises at least 80 ECTS credits, or

b) an integrated vocational education comprises at least 120 ECTS credits within the subject area of the master’s degree.

(3) The admissions committee may in certain cases approve other documented qualifications as wholly or partly equivalent to the above mentioned courses of study.

(4) Admission to experience-based master’s degree programmes in accordance with the National Regulations Relating to Requirements for a Master’s Degree, § 5, requires additional two years of relevant vocational experience. What may be regarded as relevant vocational experience is stipulated in the programme description. The programme description may stipulate requirements of more than two years of relevant vocational experience. The vocational experience must have been conducted after the completion of a bachelor’s degree or similar.

§ 3. Minimum academic requirements for admission

(1) For applicants with alphabetical grades, the minimum academic requirement for admission is the grade C.

(2) For applicants with numerical grades, the minimum academic requirement for admission is the grade 2,7.

(3) Applicants with education from a country outside the Nordic countries must document that they meet the requirements for Norwegian and English language proficiency in accordance with the requirements in the National Regulations Relating to Admission to Higher Education. The requirement for proficiency in Norwegian does not apply if both the obligatory parts of the programme and the relevant specialisation course are conducted entirely in English.

(4) In special cases, the admissions committee may grant exemption from the minimum academic requirement for admission.

§ 4. The basis for the calculation of minimum academic requirements

(1) In cases where the academic requirement for admission is based on alphabetical grades, the average grade of the examinations which form the academic requirement of 180 ECTS credits must be C or higher. The grades of the individual courses that form the academic requirement are used in the calculation with weighting based on the scope and extent of the courses in ECTS credits.

(2) In cases where the academic requirement for admission is based on numerical grades, the average grade of the examinations which form the academic requirement of 180 ECTS credits must be 2,7 or higher. The grades of the individual courses that form the academic requirement are used in the calculation with weighting based on the scope and extent of the courses.

(3) In cases where the academic requirement is based on both numerical and alphabetical grades, the average grade must be equivalent to the numerical value of C, as evident in § 5 of these regulations.

(4) Grades for supervised professional training shall not be included in the basis for the calculation.

(5) In cases where the academic requirement for admission is not applicable to point calculation, a discretionary assessment must be made as to whether the applicant meets the minimum academic requirement for admission or not.

(4) The following numerical value shall be used for the grade Pass: 6 points.

§ 6. Calculation of additional points

(1) Additional points (education points) for relevant education beyond the minimum academic requirement are awarded as follows: 0,5 points per 30 ECTS credits, not exceeding 2 points. What may be regarded as relevant education shall be evident from the description of the programme in question.

(2) Additional points (points for vocational experience) for relevant vocational experience beyond the minimum academic requirement are awarded as follows: 0,5 points per half-year up to two years, not exceeding 2 points. What may be regarded as relevant vocational experience shall be evident from the programme description of the programme in question. Relevant vocational experience shall consist of minimum a 50 % position for one year or a fulltime position for half a year.

(3) The programme description may stipulate that a maximum of another two additional points may be awarded for special vocational experience, education or other activity if compelling reasons occur.

§ 7. Quotas

(1) For admission to master’s degree programmes in accordance with the National Regulations Relating to Requirements for a Master’s Degree, § 3 a minimum of 25 % of the places shall be allocated applicants who compete solely on the basis of grade point average. The percentage is stipulated in the programme description for the master’s degree programme in question. Applicants within the quota, who do not qualify, compete in the next quota.

(2) Applicants in a quota competing on additional points as well as grade point average must be applicable for point calculation.

(3) For admission to master’s degree programmes in accordance with the National Regulations Relating to Requirements for a Master’s Degree, § 3, directed towards international applicants, the programme description may stipulate that up to 50 % of the places are allocated foreign applicants.

§ 8. Ranking of applicants

(1) If the number of qualified applicants exceeds the number of places, applicants are ranked mutually on the following grounds:

a) Applicants competing on grade point average without any additional points are ranked on the basis of grade point average from the academic admission requirement.

b) Applicants competing on additional points are ranked on the basis of grade point average from the academic admission requirement on top of the achieved additional points.

c) Qualified applicants who are not applicable to point calculation, are ranked in relation to applicants with calculated points through a discretionary assessment of the academic requirement for admission. Admission on these grounds requires knowledge and skills equivalent to applicants who are offered admission by ranking on the basis of point calculation.

(2) Applicants with a high number of points are ranked ahead of applicants with a low number of points. In cases where applicants have equal amount of points in total the following applies:

a) Older applicants are ranked ahead of younger applicants.

b) The individual programme description may stipulate that the underrepresented gender shall be given first priority.

(3) In cases where there are several possible grounds for ranking the applicants, the points shall be calculated in a way that will give the most favourable result for the applicant.

§ 9. Deadline for submission of application and forwarding of documentation

(1) Ordinary application deadline for admission to the autumn semester is 1 March. Application deadline for admission to the spring semester is 1 September.

(2) For applicants from countries outside the EU/EEA with education from a country outside the Nordic countries, the application deadline is 15 December for master’s degree programmes which commence in the autumn semester and 1 August for master’s degree programmes which commence in the spring semester.

(3) All education, vocational experience and other factors which shall provide a basis for admission must be documented within the application deadline. Results that are to be included in the basis for admission, but which are not available until after the application deadline, may be forwarded.

(4) Documentation of examinations and vocational experience that are conducted after the application deadline shall be taken into consideration in the processing of the application, as far as this is practically possible. The deadline for forwarding documentation for master’s degree programmes which commence in the autumn semester is normally 1 July. For master’s degree programmes that commence in the spring semester, the deadline for forwarding documentation is 1 December.

§ 10. Reserved place

Reservation of places may be granted to applicants who qualify for admission at the time of application and who would without doubt have been granted admission at last year’s admission.

§ 11. Postponement of admission

Granted admission may be postponed until the next year if compelling reasons exist. Further postponement will not be granted.

§ 12. Admissions Committee

The Faculty Board appoints admissions committee(s). An admissions committee shall consist of a minimum of three representatives whereof at least one is a student.

§ 13. Coming into force

These regulations come into force 1 January 2012 and apply from the admission for the academic year 2012–2013. At the same time Regulations of 1 December 2005 no. 1795 Relating to the Admission to the Master’s Programmes at Oslo University College are repealed.